☀️ Hold Your Horses — It’s Only January

If you’re scrolling social media wondering where your motivation, clarity, and “new year energy” went — you’re not alone. If anything, you might be wondering whether the horse missed you entirely and you’re still stuck slithering around in snake mode.

Good news: you didn’t miss anything.

Better news: the horse hasn’t arrived yet.

Here’s the practical, slightly woo but very grounding truth: the Year of the Horse doesn’t begin on January 1st. In the Chinese lunar calendar, the year changes in mid-February. Until then, we are still in the Year of the Snake.

So if you’re feeling slow, inward, tired, emotionally full, or mildly allergic to productivity — congratulations, you’re right on schedule.

✨Snake Energy Is Not a Problem to Fix

Snake energy gets a bad reputation because it doesn’t look impressive. It’s not loud. It doesn’t push. It doesn’t demand constant output.

Snake energy is about:

* shedding skin

* conserving energy

* processing experiences

* integrating lessons

* staying low and listening

In other words: exactly what many nervous systems need after a long, intense year.

Science backs this up. Your brain and body don’t reset just because a calendar flips. Stress hormones, grief responses, illness recovery, burnout — these all follow biological timelines, not dates. January is also:

* darker

* colder

* socially and emotionally demanding

* often financially sobering

From a nervous system perspective, January is less “full speed ahead” and more “let’s move carefully and see what’s actually here.”

That’s not a mindset issue.

That’s physiology.

✨You Don’t Owe January a Reinvention

There’s an unspoken pressure that says:

By January 1, you should be healed, hopeful, focused, and ready.

But pain doesn’t disappear at midnight.

Grief doesn’t check the calendar.

Exhaustion doesn’t respond to willpower.

Many of us are still metabolising last year — emotionally, physically, psychologically. We’re still making sense of what happened, what changed, what hurt, and what no longer fits.

Meeting yourself where you are isn’t complacency.

It’s self-respect.

✨Horse Energy Is Coming — Just Not Yet

Horse energy is movement, momentum, freedom, outward expression. But even horses don’t run constantly. They pause. They stand. They conserve energy before they move.

The mistake is trying to force horse energy while we’re still in a snake phase. That’s how people burn out by February and assume something is wrong with them.

Snake first.

Then horse.

Integration before acceleration.

When the horse energy arrives later — after mid-February — it will feel steadier and more sustainable because you allowed the groundwork to happen.

✨A Gentle Reminder

If January feels flat:

* you’re not failing

* you’re not behind

* you’re not doing the year wrong

You’re in a transitional space. A threshold. A slow warming of muscles rather than a starting gun.

Some seasons are for action.

Some seasons are for digestion.

Right now, many of us are still shedding.

So if all you can do is show up, rest, reflect, and be kind to yourself — that’s not “nothing.”

That’s preparation.

The snake hasn’t finished her work yet.

The horse will arrive when it’s time.

And you don’t need to rush yourself to prove anything in the meantime. 🐍🐎

✨ If you are ready to have some a sacred space held for you while you process, release and move forward in 2026 then our women’s circle in Clongriffin is on the first Sunday of each month from 5-615pm. We would love to see you there and sharing our wellness tools x

https://www.dustingoffmysoul.ie/sacred-space-womens-circle